Participation

The Commissioner for the Protection of Equality Nevena Petrusic has urged that women should account for a third of candidates on lists for early parliamentary elections.

“If Serbia wants an open, democratic society, a society in which interests of all groups are equally represented, it is very important that women are present at all levels of the government,” Petrusic told Tanjug.

(WNN) Los Angeles, California, UNITED STATES, AMERICAS: Despite the election of new President Hassan Rowhani in the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI), women continue to face new challenges in exercising their civil rights. For women this means a great challenge to reach equality as well as accessing educational and workforce resources.

If regular armies are generally a man's world, guerrillas and insurgent forces are just the contrary. There women have always had a central role.

“We need more women leaders! When women lead side by side with men, it is good for equality and democracy. It is good for peace and stability. It is good for business.

Female opposition lawmaker, Hon. Veronica Sesay, representing Constituency 85 in Moyamba District, southern Sierra Leone, has called on all political parties to encourage and empower more women to participate in politics in general and parliamentary politics in particular by according them more opportunities to contest for parliamentary seats and to be given key positions in Parliament.

The Special Representative of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission (SRCC) Ambassador Mahamat Saleh Annadif has applauded the relentless efforts of Somali women in shaping the country's destiny during a meeting with female representatives of the Somali civil society.

Pro-Pakistan Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani Sunday announced the formation of pan-Kashmir women wing of his party, Tehreek-e-Hurriyat.

The formation of women wing of Hurriyat, which will be headed by Mr Geelani, was formally announced at the party headquarters in Srinagar.

A spokesperson of the party said the decision to form the women wing was driven by their specified role for Islam, unification and freedom movement.

Cheers broke out in the National Assembly building here on Monday as representatives chose the mayor of this beleaguered capital to serve as the interim president of the Central African Republic, a country in the grip of a sectarian civil war.

Three members of the team negotiating for South Sudanese rebels in Ethiopia are women. They have been playing a role in what is usually a male arena.

The ongoing high-level peace talks between South Sudan's government and opposition include three women on the opposition side who are members of the national parliament in Juba.

A proper democracy cannot be established without the participation of women. Such is the message of Syrian women's rights activists who concluded a two-day conference in Geneva on Monday to demand equal involvement in their country's peace-building process, which has so far mostly included men.